Emmanuel Adebayor has revealed he 'hates' Arsenal because Arsene Wenger is 'fake' and claims his infamous celebration in front of their fans was revenge for a racist chant sung against him.

The controversial striker burst onto the Premier League scene after Wenger plucked him from obscurity at Monaco in January 2006. He would spend three-and-a-half seasons at the club before joining big-spending Manchester City for £25million.

But while it may have been almost nine years since he swapped the Emirates for the Etihad, Adebayor says his feelings towards Arsenal and, in particular, Wenger remain as strong as the day he left.

Emmanuel Adebayor claims Arsene Wenger is 'fake' and forced him to leave Arsenal in 2009

The striker swapped the Emirates for the Etihad in a £25m deal, but failed to make an impact

To add insult to injury, the Togolese striker said he would 'always love' Jose Mourinho because of his honesty, and named arch-rival Wenger as the antithesis to Manchester United's manager.

The Istanbul Basaksehir striker told Turkish television show Beyond The Game: 'Mourinho is the one of the managers I loved and will always love.

'He is one of the [most] honest managers I have met in my career, which is crazy because most of the managers are all kind of like fake.

'As an example, I had a meeting with Arsene Wenger in his office when he told me I had to leave because he doesn't see my future any more in Arsenal.

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Adebayor, pictured playing for Tottenham, says Wenger told him he had no future at Arsenal

'So I didn't have any other choice than joining Man City which I was very happy to join.

'And the next day when I joined Manchester City I saw him doing a press conference in London saying that I wanted to leave because the money was big and everything and since that day that is where the hate for Arsenal came from.'

The 33-year-old remains an unpopular figure among Arsenal fans, not just because of his decision to move to a Premier League rival but the infamous celebration he performed after scoring against them for the first time.

Adebayor ran the length of the pitch after scoring in the 4-2 victory at the Etihad and performed a knee slide in front of the travelling support. Stewards struggled to control the angry fans attempting to invade the pitch and the player was fined £25,000.

Adebayor exerted revenge of both Wenger and Arsenal fans after scoring against them

The Togolese striker ran the length of the pitch the celebrate in front of furious travelling fans

But Adebayor sticks by his actions on that fateful day and says he was incensed by those who chose to sing a racist song against him and claim he had only left for money.

Of the celebration, he said: 'What was going through my head? A prisoner is out. A prisoner is free.

'You bought me for £3m I still have five years of contract and you let me go for £20m more and you are telling me I am the one leaving for money and abusing me.

'You can insult me no problem, but telling me my father washes elephants?

'I am not taking that so it was just to show them that the person you are insulting still has something in his locker.'

Fans were injured in the ensuing melee as some fans attempted to reach Adebayor on the pitch